Sword Pilgrim

“Right.”

Philo Cut-Tail.

‘There was somebody like that.’

In the ancient times, there’d been many clans who used to worship the spear.

However, among them, only the empire of today and the dragonkin people still survived.

The dragonkin were indeed descendants of the dragons, but they were more commonly called lizardmen because of how thin their bloodline was.

They would one day be destroyed by the hands of the empire, which was carrying out a plan to annihilate all nonhuman races on the continent.

Even though they were fellow worshippers of the spear, even though the empire had used their power for its own gain in the past, in the end, their fate was to be abandoned and exterminated.

Because a strange doctrine had taken root in the empire that considered all nonhuman beings as worthless.

Humans and dragonkin had always had a fraught relationship, which didn’t help.

‘Come to think of it, now is about the time.’

The dragonkin people were to be annihilated.

The empire had spent a lot of ultimately fruitless effort on its attack on Carpe and had taken a lot of damage, so it was now planning to strengthen its internal stability by subjugating the troublesome people within its borders.

This didn’t deserve any particular attention, from Callius’ point of view.

“Even though he’s a bit useless, his spear is top notch. It’s a pity to just let him die. Besides… we’ve been together for a while.”

Aldo kept talking.

Please lend us your strength so we can save him.

That was the essence of what he wanted from Callius.

However –

“Why should I?”

There was no reason why Callius should help Philo Cut-Tail.

It was possible that Philo might grow into some kind of virtuous paragon if he were to be saved.

Although Callius had no idea about his temperament nor his skills, the possibility existed.

But what mattered in the end was –

‘He’s a spearman.’

A servant of Lactus.

Of course, that was just a superficial reason, and Callius couldn’t be sure on which side Philo might end up.

Since Philo was a character destined to die.

What was the potential of Philomatour’s life?

Callius didn’t know.

That was why he was hesitant to get involved.

Of course, he’d be able to make friends with these people if he helped, but he didn’t want to put himself at risk.

The opponent of the tribe of dragonkin was the empire.

There was a high probability that the imperial prince or the princess was in charge, and the latter was more likely.

‘There’s no benefit in getting involved with the princess.’

Because she had a disposition that was considered unnecessarily violent even within the warlike empire.

What if she caught sight of his black hair and gray eyes, and found out who he really was?

He didn’t want to walk down that thorny road.

“Of course, we won’t ask for your help without offering anything in return.”

Aldo looked at Serena, who nodded, pulled something out from her sleeve and placed it on the table.

A small casket.

What’s she doing?

Serena was furtively looking around.

But there was no sign of the people who’d been happily drinking at the bar, because they’d all run away in fear already.

The three of them were the only guests left in the tavern.

Noticing that fact, Serena lifted the lid of the box very slightly.

“… And this is?”

“A fae-stone[1].”

Callius froze as he was grabbing his winecup.

Fae-stone.

He hadn’t expected this.

‘How surprising. In many ways.’

There were fairies in this world.

Their powers were varied.

But they all had one thing in common. They were bound by contracts, and contracts defined their way of life.

A race of beings with a unique ability to become one with nature, who grew stronger by making and fulfilling promises with their contractors.

‘There’s one in Jervain.’

Nochtel, the butler serving the Jervain family, was a fine example.

Their lifespans were several times that of humans.

And their magical powers that governed the very forces of nature had few rivals.

So when Callius was in the North –

Even while provoking Nochtel, he’d taken care not to cross the line.

‘Contracting with a fairy is a matter of chance.’

They weren’t easy to meet, and signing a contract was even rarer.

But there was only one thing –

One thing, the legends went, that could change that chance to a certainty.

‘A fae-stone.’

As long as you had a fae-stone in your possession.

Even in the elven forest, where fairies were relatively more common, fae-stones weren’t a common sight.

If Helena had seen this stone, she might’ve agreed to exchange a portion of the ownership rights of her merchant group for it.

Because fairies were not only powerful, they were bound by contracts and willing to work as labour.

“You might not know how valuable this stone is.”

“No, how could I not know?”

However, there was one problem if the reward for the task was something like this.

Because it was too much.

If you compared the value of Philo with the stone, the latter could be called a hundredfold more valuable. Or even a thousandfold. Because anybody would happily agree to such a price.

So Callius asked bluntly.

“I can’t help but be suspicious. Is Philo really worth such a precious stone that can be exchanged for a fiefdom in the empire?”

Serena’s voice became a little cold in response.

“Do you only see value when you look at people?”

A trace of contempt now coloured her voice.

Was an elf raising the banner of justice and humanity?

Did the sun rise from the west today?

‘Is this her original personality?’

Elves were a strong race in this world.

They were superior to humans in their longevity and physical ability.

A race that had established its own territory by leveraging the range advantage provided by the bow.

So most elves were quite overbearing.

They had an insular disposition buttressed by a feeling of racial supremacy.

‘How can an elf be like this?’

It was a little absurd, but perhaps that was why she could one day be called a hero.

To be honest, Callius wasn’t overly familiar with these two.

Because he hadn’t been the one to create them.

So he couldn’t help but be a little curious.

‘Serena and Aldo aren’t perfected yet.’

They were still pilgrims.

Even if they would become heroes one day.

So –

His thoughts idly moved to an inevitable idea.

What if he killed them right now?

‘What kind of swords will be born?’

Callius was very curious.

“!”

It was the natural desire of any pilgrim, so he merely daydreamed for a moment, but the response was instant.

“What do you…!”

“Hey, that’s too much.”

Because of that unconscious flare of killing intent –

Serena jumped up, and Aldo’s wheedling voice became low and serious.

“…”

Serena’s hands had been hidden inside the robe, so they were hard to see; however now the shape of the bow they held was clearly visible. By her side, Aldo was looking at Callius with sunken eyes.

A standoff where one side might attack the other at any moment.

But as the silence continued to build, in the end, Callius was the one to deescalate.

“Please excuse me. But I couldn’t help but be suspicious since the reward is a fae-stone. I hope you can understand my position.”

Although he’d been openly rude, since he was now taking a step back on his own –

It’d only make him seem even more honest and trustworthy.

“This stone feels precious to the two us, but I want you to understand that it’s not that big a deal for Serena. And it also means that helping our colleague is that dangerous.”

Aldo began explaining in a slightly softened voice.

On the other hand, Serena remained as she was, her eyes still sharp under her hood.

“There’s news that the two princesses from the empire and the principality have come to subdue the dragonkin people.”

Two princesses.

Both of them belonged to the category Callius most wished to avoid, so he was already feeling reluctant.

But –

He quickly grabbed the box containing the stone.

“I see.”

To be honest, the fae-stone made any amount of hassle worth it.

“Serena, how do I use it?”

“You burn the stone inside the forest where a fairy may be hiding.”

Then, the curious fairy would be drawn to the aura of the fae-stone.

The bewitching energy[2] it exuded would bewitch them and lower their vigilance, and that was the moment you’d aim for to sign a contract.

‘So that’s it.’

It wasn’t much different from what he already knew.

But there was a missing part.

‘A fae-stone doesn’t guarantee that you’ll meet a fairy, and the same goes for making a contract.’

It was just a medium to summons fairies.

Contracts were another story.

Fairies were naturally fickle.

So one had to depend on luck.

However –

‘For others that may be the case, but I’m a different story.’

For a stone as precious as jade –

It was only about the size of a small gravel.

Callius thought –

‘It’s the perfect size to swallow.’

– That for him, this was a bargain.

Aldo and Serena.

Returning to their room, they quickly took off their hoods as soon as the door closed, revealing their faces.

The woman, Serena, had pale blonde hair tied in a ponytail and ears twice the length of a human.

Her eyes looked like jewels embossed in gold, so beautiful that they brought a sense of unreality.

However, Aldo’s gaze looking at such beauty was still sombre.

“Aldo! Do you really think we can believe that guy?”

As soon as she shook off her hood, Serena complained at Aldo.

Her gripe was naturally about Callius.

Aldo grinned at her sharp look and stroked his beard.

“In fact, I prefer those who look suspicious at first glance. He must’ve gone through all sorts of trouble since birth, no? That he’s survived to this day speaks for his skills.”

The man had openly demonstrated greed and killing intent.

Those had been real, not fake.

The fact that such a straightforward person had reached this point was proof that his skills were better than expected.

“I don’t think so.”

However, Serena denied it.

It seemed she didn’t like the man.

“What’s wrong?”

“I wonder if it’s really alright to give the stone to an untrustworthy guy.”

Fae-stone.

Even for elves, it was an uncommon treasure.

A stone that only formed occasionally by chance in rare places dense with the power of nature.

Serena thought it was fair to questions whether they should’ve handed it over to a stranger they’d met today for the first time.

What if he took it and ran?

“We have to show trust first. We’re asking him to get us involved in our own business.”

“But the fae-stone…”

“It’s not that valuable to you, right? Wouldn’t it be worthwhile if it could save a colleague’s life?”

The stone was indeed vanishingly rare.

However, that wasn’t wholly true for Serena.

She still had two more besides the one she’d given to Callius.

But even so, that didn’t make the stone itself any less valuable.

Rather, it would’ve been be better to sell it off and hire a good mercenary with the money.

Even the Mercenary King would come to help them for such an extravagant reward.

‘But there’s no time.’

They lacked time.

“… Right. But I still can’t trust him.”

“Time will remedy that. But I think he’s a pretty good guy.”

“How come?”

“Did you see what Callis did to that gatekeeper?”

“Well…”

Anyone with functioning eyes could’ve seen how the gatekeeper had put down two silvers on the table, back at the tavern.

He’d obviously cheated the mysterious pilgrim.

“The gatekeeper had deceived a pilgrim. There was enough justification to even kill him then and there. I wouldn’t have thought much of it if he lost a hand or his tongue. But what happened in the end?”

“Callis told him to clean up.”

For the criminal to get away with such a meagre punishment –

That was to say –

“Yeah. He isn’t a bad guy, I guess.”

Since he wasn’t a villain by nature, Serena agreed to stop worrying about him for now.

Besides, Aldo continued –

“While gathering information, I heard some crazy news about a new wanted order.”

“Wanted order? Issued by the empire?”

“That’s right. Some princess or other put out a warrant for a man. They say he’s a lecher who goes around harassing women. The victims so far already number in the hundreds, apparently.”

“What a rotten scoundrel!”

“It’s probably Callis.”

“What?!”

Then why on earth should they team up with somebody like that?

Serena remembered that his gaze had been a little weird.

Had that guy been picturing her like that throughout their meeting?

Serena couldn’t help but hug herself.

Goosebumps were rising all over her body.

“Aldo! Are you telling me right now you want me to use my beauty to seduce him? You think he’ll fall for me so hard he’ll never betray me? Is that what you want?!”

Serena, completely misreading the situation, couldn’t help but roar.

Aldo frowned at her nonsense.

“You’re really prone to misunderstandings. Honestly, what goes on inside your head?”

“You just told me he’s a perverted scoundrel! I’m the elf called the Incarnation of Beauty. There’s no way a scumbag like that will ignore me, right?”

“I told you that I heard all sorts of crazy things. Does it make sense that a pilgrim, neither from the empire nor the principality, harassed hundreds of women in a single week? And that’s not the point to focus on.”

“Then…?”

All he’d said so far was about how crazy the news was.

So what did he want to focus on?

Serena was trying hard to understand.

“After the wanted order was issued, a group of soldiers found and surrounded him, but they say he killed them all without lifting a finger. Do you know what’s the most interesting part?”

“What?”

“They say he controls a magic beast.”

“Magic beast?”

A demonic beast controller? This truly was important information.

“Yeah. He could be a servant of the whip.”

Of the Whip God, Auste!

“I heard the whip has already disappeared?”

“A God doesn’t disappear that easily.”

Indeed.

They still didn’t know which God Callis served.

Aldo had originally thought he served the sword, but perhaps not.

‘From his eyes when he let out that flash of killing intent, the sword is likely…’

Aldo shook his head, recalling the story about the pilgrims of Valtherus.

Among all pilgrims, the only madmen who fought and killed their own brothers in faith were the pilgrims of the sword.

“Anyway, he isn’t a citizen of the empire or the principality. Rather, he’s being chased by the locals. That makes him trustworthy.”

“But he’s a sex maniac.”

“You… Stop worrying about that. He didn’t even care about you, right?”

“You!”

That was then.

Suddenly, Serena’s long ears perked up and trembled.

“Is it an enemy?”

“No, it’s him. He’s left his room.”

“He’s probably going to try and use the stone. Are you going to follow him?”

“You might think so, but I don’t. What if he’s running away? I’ll follow him and make sure. You can just go to sleep, dwarf.”

“Heh, alright.”

It was up to her to decide whether to trust the stranger or not.

Aldo’s words did have their own basis, but that alone wasn’t enough to convince her.

Step, hop.

Serena climbed out of the window and jumped in a graceful motion, her feet silent as they touched the ground.

With her hood up and her ears perked up for listening, she began to run as soon as she saw her target.

Clad in a white robe –

It was Callis.

Rustle.

As Callis left the town and entered the surrounding forest, Serena carefully trailed after him.

And after a while –

“…!”

Serena’s golden eyes widened in shock, and her mouth gaped.

Editor’s Notes:

[1] 요석 (妖石), monster/demon stone. Translating as fae-stone since demons are already a different faction in this story.

[2] 요기 (妖氣) (yao qi), monster energy. Translating as bewitching energy or natural energy, taking some artistic license.